If you’ve ever made your own hot cross buns, you’ll know that they lose their softness within half a day. Let us introduce you to the hot cross scone, dear readers, which won’t let you down in the soft stakes.

Packed with all the fragrant fruity flavours of the traditional Easter treat (plus some chocolate chips because, well, why not?) these are quick and easy to whip up.

Hot cross bun treacle tart

Sticky, sweet and full of zesty, spicy goodness, this is what would happen if the humble treacle tart got together with a hot cross bun and had a love child. Plus, it’s a genius way to use up any leftover buns too.

Here we have the flavours of a hot cross bun in a moist and crumbly cupcake. Take your lead from Twigg Studios and make your cross mix with cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and orange zest. Licking the bowl afterwards is optional but totally worth it.

Hot cross French toast

What better way to jazz up French toast than with some warming spices and soft fruit? This genius idea seems so obvious now.

We now have a legitimate reason to eat hot cross buns all year round, and for that, A Ducks Oven, we thank you. Top with apple compote for brunch or a good scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup after dark.

If you leave anything standing still for too long, someone will make a raw version.

These slices don’t have the same light and fluffy texture as a bun but, hey, if that's what you want then that's what you’d have, right? It has all those lovely spices and dried fruit running through the mix and the orange and lemon zest give it a good kick.

It’s like a fruit cake and hot cross bun got together and that’s no bad thing.